The Boy Who Ate a Soul

My life was a living hell, and that night I would've died if I hadn't met him; he saved me, and even offered to make deal with me. If I only knew that he wasn't human, no he was the boy who ate the souls of humans, and it seemed, he had taken a liking to mine. My name is Allen Hughes, and this is my story about my friend; the boy who ate a soul.

9. King's Park: A Demon's Playground

"Allen's gonna kill me," Alois screamed in his head, "I felt that the Father was in danger that night, but I did nothing about it!" Trying to keep his composure so his friend wouldn't become suspicious, the demon boy tried to mull over what had happened to the Father. "Judging by the wound on the Father's shoulder, and the stench of holly water, he was fighting a demon..." He began to piece together the details in his head, slowly piecing together the most likely sequence of events that led to the church and the Father being the way the two ended up.

"Alois?" the sound of his partner's voice broke his train of thought. "Alois? You alright in that head of yours?"

"I'm fine," he replied almost unsubconsciously, "Just thinking..." His mind was elsewhere, and Allen could tell, he pondered what he was thinking about; without meaning to, he began to fish for information as to what Alois was thinking about.

"Is it about school?" Alois didn't reply, but his body didn't react telling Allen that wasn't what he was thinking about. "Staying with us then, is that it?" No response, Allen was becoming a little discouraged, until the thought came to him; The Father. "Is it about the Father then?"

Alois cringed slightly at the mention of the man. "Shit, does he know!?" he panicked inside his head.

"Only on how he'll do without me," he bluffed. The mother, who was still with them giggled a little as they reached the door to the house.

"He'll do just fine," she smiled, patting Alois on the head. "Now, you boys go run along, Sean and I have to prepare a room for Alois. Allen, why don't you take him to the park?" She winked as she walked inside and closed the door without them.

"Splendid idea. C'mon, Alois," Allen brimmed, yanking the demon boy by the wrist as they ran along the sidewalk, heading for King's Park; Alois knew the place for a different reason, the old house in the deep woods behind the park. That place was called the Devil's Playground.

********************

Deep in the dark, decrepit basement of an old, abandoned house, he stirred. Opening the lid to the casket he'd been placed in to recover, Christoph yawned a deep, low yawn that resembled a sleeping Hell hound of old legends. His blonde hair, faded, his eyes now shown that of a pale brownish grey. He tumbled out of the casket, landing on his hindquarters to which he uttered a low moan of pain.

"Your awake," came the smooth, but poisoned soaked voice of his mother. "You really should've rested for another few days... my vampiric child," standing up she glided over to her wounded boy, using her hand to prop his chin upwards as to make eye contact with one another.

"I grew tired of slumber," he muttered in disgust, swatting her hand away, he moved to the old bureau in the corner of the dimly lit room. In the light of the nearby candle he summoned upon his dwindling energy so he could view the damage to his body himself.

"Damn that insolent Father," He sneered at his reflection, "He has scarred me in a most distasteful way... He'll pay with his life." The damage to his body was clear; Two swollen, red gouges where the crucifixes pierced his wrists, a large gouge with a burnt edging in his chest from where another crucifix had impaled him. He didn't even need to see his ankles, as they still ached in pain; his body was covered in burns from the holly water, thankfully those had already, for the most part, become nothing more than faded scars. He was enraged at the shape his poor, delicate body had been left in. The small, slightly showing muscles in his abdomen were contracting painfully as he breathed, his slightly raised, and broadened chest was smeared in the scars of the burns making him seem, well... inhuman.

"Where are you going my child?" the mother questioned, watching her child dress himself and head towards the door out of the dim, dungeon of the cellar.

"I'm going out to play..." he muttered, "Make sure our little puppet family is ready when I return to the house." With that he slammed the door and wandered up the stairs and out of the house into the woods, he was heading for the sound of many people nearby, a place of gathering perhaps.

********************

Alois sat on a bench, watching his master swing on a nearby swing set. Albeit, if he were still alive and truly a child, he too would find these simple, insignificant objects of steel and leather appealing as well; unfortunately he was no longer an innocent child, instead he was a black satin rose... who's pettels of innocence had long since shriveled up and died.

"My master looks happy on those swings," he thought to himself as he watched Allen, "And that's all that matters to me, after all, a happy and content soul is the best tasting, and most succulent thing a demon desires to consume." His eyes quickly flashed red at the thought of having Allen's smooth soul to devour.

"Oh hey there Allen," came a soft voice, "Can I join you on the swings?" Alois paid no heed to the young voice, though it did sound familiar.

"Sure, here come sit on this one," he heard Allen reply, "We can swing together for a bit, how about that, Christoph?" Wait, did Allen just say... Alois shot back to reality as he beheld that damned little vampiric brat sitting on the swing adjacent to his master.

"You little bastard," he spat under his breath. He stood up from the bench and, as calmly as he could, strolled over to the two boys. "Hello Christoph," he faked a polite voice and smile.

"Oh, hello... Alois was it?" he replied, obviously feigning interest.

"Yes, I'm in English with you," he continued to fake a polite voice, "How have you been adjusting to life here?"

"Not too bad, though I must admit, life here is... different than in Denmark," he finished after a brief pause. There was a brief moment of silence, in which a sense of hostility began to manifest, until Alois broke it.

"Hey," he began, "Can we talk? I'd like to get to better know you."

"After I finish swinging with Allen here," he placed his hand, his damned, dirty vampiric hand onto Allen's for a moment. That pissed of Alois severely, but, he kept himself composed, sitting back down on the bench. The two began to swing and talk to one another once more, leaving Alois seething until finally, with a strong mental push, shoved Christoph from the swing and flat onto his face.

"That'll teach you," Alois smirked in his mind.

"You alright?" Allen asked, helping the boy to his feet.

"Yeah... I'm fine," he sputtered. He knew someone had shoved him with a mental pulse, but who, and from where? The only person in the immediate vicinity was... Alois. "That little brat."

"Sure... why not?" Christoph replied with agitation in his voice. Leaving Allen on the swings wondering what had just happened, the boys, wandered into the woods until they were out of sight and hearing. "So... Alois," Christoph inquired, "Why the hell did you push me?"

"I've no idea what you mean," he replied, turning to face the vampire boy.

"Cut the coy shit, I know it was you," he sneered, "You aren't human, are you?"

"Ah, how astute of you," Christoph smiled a devil's smile, his eyes now their rosy red color, "Yes, I am indeed a vampire, and a powerful one at that too." He began to circle around Alois, waiting to rip this insolent boy to shreds.

"I know," Alois smirked, "I can smell your foul blood... Tepes scum." That comment enraged Christoph, without thinking he lunged at inhuman speed at the child in the black overcoat.

"I"LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!" he roared, almost within range to strike his foe down, but, Alois was just a bit faster; Using his soul's energy, he launched himself over the charging vampire, landing within inches of Christoph.

"No, I'll kill you," he whispered as he withdrew the bottle of holly water he had stolen from the church a while ago. Before Christoph had even fully turned around, Alois, giggling, watched as the bottle he'd thrown blew up into blue flames all over Christoph.

"AARRGGHH!" he wailed in pain, falling to the ground, "God damn you... you... insolent brat! I'll kill you... just you wait!" His power was still too far gone to extinguish the flames so he had to lie down and wait for the flames to extinguish themselves as they burned away at his already wounded body.

"You will also stay away from his family, and," he couldn't believe he was saying this," stay away from Father Cornell and the church on Eighth Street. Now, do I make myself clear?"

"You can't make me," he growled, "You have no power over me. Besides, that priest and I have a score to settle, a matter of honor, I know that as a demon you have to respect upholding honor, right?"

Alois let go of the vampire boy's neck, allowing him to stand up, "Yes, I can understand maintaining honor, but what does the Father have to do with Tepes honor?"

"Well..." Christoph spoke as he walked away, wounded from Alois, "Ask him how old he is and about a man named William Roberts..." Before Alois could push the point further, Christoph had already vanished into the steadily growing fog.

"Damn him..." Alois muttered, begrudgingly returning to the playground. Upon his return to Allen, he found Sean sitting with him, waiting for him to return.

"There you are Alois," Allen smiled, "Where's Christoph?"

"He had to go home," Alois replied with a meek smile. "What brings you here Sean?"

"Time to go home," he answered, "Mom asked me to fetch you guys, she wants you to see your room and settle in, the Father brought all your stuff over from the Church."

"How nice of him," Alois pretended to be surprised, "Alright, shall we get going then?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Sean replied standing up, "Never really cared for this place myself anyways," He continued to say as they all left.